Man dies in Switzerland mosque shooting

GENEVA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- A man was shot dead in a mosque in the canton of St. Gallen in north-eastern Switzerland on Friday afternoon, local police said.

The incident happened in Winkeln, a neighborhood of St. Gallen city which is the capital of the canton.

The cantonal police confirmed to Xinhua that they received a report of a shooting in the mosque Friday afternoon.

The cantonal police said that officers arrived on the spot and found a male body in the prayer room, and one person with a handgun was arrested without resistance.

But the police did not disclose either identities or motives of the shooting, saying that investigations were underway and it was now unclear whether other people were present in the mosque at the time of the shooting.

The police said that they were questioning the alleged gunman and another some ten people who were found near the site when the gunshot were heard.

According to local media Swissinfo and RTS, members of the Muslim community there believed the shooting was an act of revenge for a murder committed nearly two decades ago when the victim allegedly killed the suspect's brother.

The canton police noted that currently they can neither confirm nor deny the possible motives reported by the media.